Faculty & Staff

At the heart of this graduate program is our community – from faculty at Western Washington University and North Cascades Institute to partners in the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies and organizations. Throughout the program, our students learn from and work alongside many of the Northwest's best educators, naturalists and conservation professionals.
Western Washington University Faculty and Staff
		John Miles, Ph.D. John Miles is the program adviser to the M.Ed. and has worked for 36 years in many capacities in the environmental education field. His principal interests are application of experiential learning in environmental education and environmental history. Author and editor of several books, he recently published Wilderness in National Parks: Playground or Preserve. An avid outdoorsman, he has traveled the North Cascades for 32 years with ice ax, telemark skis and backpack. More information about Professor John Miles can be found on his website.

		Gene Myers, Ph.D. Gene's Cascadia roots extend back four generations, and his early passion for northwest natural history continues with intensity. An environmental educator since 1978, his aim is to integrate a deep understanding of ecology with a profound grasp of human ethical development. A pioneer in Conservation Psychology, his research specialty concerns the bases of children's and adults' connection to nonhuman animals (and nature in its other aspects), and how educators may use this to foster the development of environmental responsibility and effective action. More information about Professor Gene Meyers can be found on his website.
		Dave Rossiter Dave is a cultural-historical geographer with teaching and research interests centered on the intersection of aboriginal and environmental politics in both the Canadian province of British Columbia and the US Pacific Northwest. A faculty member at Huxley College since 2005, Dave teaches the seminar on "Language, Discourse and Environment" in the M.Ed. program. Beyond the classroom, Dave is a passionate skier and cyclist.

		Megan McGinty Megan has devoted the past twenty years of her life to teaching youth of all ages about the natural world, and more recently, the impacts climate change have on our local and global ecosystems. Her career has taken her to the Everglades, Appalachian Mountains, Wind River Mountains, Costa Rica, Patagonia the Oregon Desert, and then the greater Cascade Ecosystem. Megan is currently studying at the University of Washington to receive her PhD through the College of Education with a focus on science education and the natural world. Megan also holds a BA in Geology and a M.Ed in Environmental Education through Western Washington University and North Cascades Institute. In her spare time you can find Megan running long distances on the trails in Bellingham, climbing mountains in the North Cascades or reading on her couch with her dog, Rainy.

North Cascades Institute Graduate M.Ed. Program Faculty and Staff
		Saul Weisberg Saul Weisberg is executive director and co-founder of North Cascades Institute. He teaches the class Nonprofit Administration for Environmental Educators by sharing what he has learned in 25 years with the Institute and immersing students in day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization. Saul is an ecologist, naturalist and writer who has published From the Mountains to the Sea, North Cascades: The Story behind the Scenery, Teaching for Wilderness, and Living with Mountains. He serves on the board of directors of the Association of Nature Center Administrators and the Natural History Network. Learn more about Saul Weisberg in this interview with Clearing Magazine.

		Jeff Anderson As the Science Coordinator, Jeff works to incorporate field-based science and research into the Institute's programs. He has an undergraduate degree from The University of Richmond and a graduate degree from The Evergreen State College, where he researched the breeding biology of an endangered bird species in Washington State. Prior to coming to the North Cascades, Jeff was lucky enough to conduct research and teach in some of the most beautiful spots in the country, including Denali National Park, the Sonoran Desert, and the waters of the Puget Sound, the Bay of Fundy and the island of Hawaii.

		Stephanie Bennett Graduate Coordinator Stephanie has received a graduate certificate in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute and is a recent graduate of the NCI M.Ed residency program. Stephanie has worked to engage both youth, adults and corporate executives in the broad field of sustainability over the past ten years. In her free time, she can be found running through forested u-shaped valleys or exploring the snow-capped peaks of the North Cascades on her snowboard.

		Additional North Cascades Institute Staff teach in various graduate classes. For more information on our staff and their bios, please visit our staff page.

Sections

Faculty & Staff

At the heart of this graduate program is our community –